Preceptor perceptions of pharmacy student team quality assurance projects.

OBJECTIVES To assess preceptors' opinions of the impact of quality assurance projects. METHODS Students were given the opportunity to directly apply material learned in class in a "real world" environment by completing a quality assurance project in a community or health-system pharmacy. All preceptors (n = 38) were contacted via telephone and given the opportunity to respond to open-ended questions concerning their experience with student-team quality assurance projects. RESULTS Preceptors indicated the quality assurance projects benefited their practice sites by providing additional resources (53%, n = 19), decreased medication errors (22%, n = 8), and increased awareness of the importance of quality assurance (22%, n = 8). Ninety-four percent of respondents (n = 34) perceived the projects had a positive impact on patient care and 92% (n = 33) perceived a positive impact on themselves. CONCLUSIONS Preceptors felt that quality assurance projects performed by pharmacy-student teams were beneficial to patient care, the practice site, and themselves. The quality assurance projects have broad applications and can be added to a medication safety class or to the introductory pharmacy practice experience (IPPE) sequence.